Brussels is hosting the kick-off of a fresh series of trilateral gas talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EU this Friday. The goal is to agree, by June, on a successor to the current “winter package” on Ukrainian gas purchases from Russia, which would settle gas – and cash – flows between the two countries until autumn 2016, when an international court in Stockholm is expected to rule on their dispute. … [Read more...]
Ex-Polish Prime Minister Tusk reclaims Energy Union agenda
Energy security through new fossil fuel supplies and transport infrastructure, not energy efficiency and renewables, dominates the conclusions issued by EU heads of state and government after their first debate on an Energy Union for Europe in Brussels on Thursday. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – now President of the European Council of Ministers – appears to have reclaimed in large part the Energy Union he helped set in motion, … [Read more...]
Europe’s Energy Union: a big deal – but is it a good deal?
The Energy Union, writes Jonathan Gaventa, Associate Director of E3G, offers Europe a unique opportunity to move to a more modern, efficient and technologically advanced energy system, to bring down Europe’s outrageously high energy import bill and to lead global clean energy markets. Unless we allow it to be hijacked by incumbent utilities and oil and gas players who will use it to advance their own interests. … [Read more...]
Why is CCS stuck in second gear? We need it to fight climate change
Although carbon capture and storage (CCS) is acknowledged by experts as a key technology to fight climate change, it is currently stuck in second gear, writes Howard J. Herzog  is Senior Research Engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The reason, he says, is that there is no market for CCS at this moment. He calls on policymakers to set a carbon price that would generate demand for CCS. … [Read more...]
More coal plants are being cancelled than built
The global coal boom has started to slow, a new  report says, as more plans for new power plants are now being shelved than completed. The number of cancelled coal projects across the world has outstripped those completed at a rate of two to one since 2010, according to Sierra Club and CoalSwarm - two campaign groups that have tracked the progress of 3,900 intended plants since 1 January 2010. Article by Sophie Yeo of The Carbon Brief. … [Read more...]
Everyone is guessing when it comes to oil prices
Oil price forecasters base their predictions on a multitude of different factors, writes Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. When you take all these into account, he says, it becomes clear that nobody really knows which way oil prices are heading. … [Read more...]
IEA’s projections for renewables continue to look way too low
The IEA’s projections for wind and solar capacity look much too low, continuing a history of vastly underestimating renewables growth.  Their projections are not a reliable basis for projecting the world’s future power generation mix, argues energy expert Adam Whitmore on his blog On Climate Change Policy. … [Read more...]
The Great Game in the Holy LandÂ
Author Michael Schwartz tells the real story of the struggle over Eastern Mediterranean gas resources - a crucial but underreported cause behind the protracted conflict in the Middle East. It now involves the armies and navies of nine countries. And there is no resolution in sight. On the contrary, writes Schwartz, the gas wars in the Middle East will probably only get worse. … [Read more...]
EU energy policy: still ambiguous after all these years
The Energy Union package recently announced by the European Commission is a step forward in that it puts market liberalization and integration at the centre of European energy policy, writes Carlo Stagnaro, senior fellow at the Italian free market think tank Istituto Bruno Leoni. At the same time, it is still strongly influenced by the idea that government intervention is required to ensure both security of supply and sustainability. As a result, … [Read more...]
At the tipping point: will Obama stop Shell from despoiling the Arctic?
Shell is trying to establish itself as a leader in Arctic exploration and drilling, despite the company’s poor safety record in the region, writes Subhankar Banerjee, author of the new book Arctic Voices: Resistance at the Tipping Point. According to Banerjee, Shell’s activities are a mortal threat to one of the last untouched environments on the planet. President Obama still has a choice: to stop Shell – or to let it go ahead and become … [Read more...]
Columbia Law School creates global database of climate change laws
The Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law is creating a comprehensive database with links to climate laws and policies around the globe. The collection currently includes information for more than 100 countries, organized by continent. … [Read more...]
Meet the world’s number 1 R&D player in sustainable energy: the Chinese Academy of Sciences
In a global study of top academic and research centers in a wide range of sustainable energies, the surprising winner is the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Among industrial innovators the number 1 is engineering company ABB. The in-depth study, conducted by KIC InnoEnergy and Questel Consulting, shows that Chinese research institutions are considerably ahead of their European and US peers in sustainable energy innovation, including wind, ocean and … [Read more...]
In the oil heartlands of the planet, solar now beats oil and gas
One of the biggest banks in the Middle East and the oil-rich Gulf countries says that fossil fuels can no longer compete with solar technologies on price, and that the vast bulk of the $US48 trillion needed to meet global power demand over the next two decades will come from renewables. Meanwhile, in Dubai, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, has won the world’s largest ever solar tender with the cheapest ever price: one-third below the cost of gas-fired … [Read more...]
Here’s what will send oil prices back up again
Oil's rapid decline since August of last year has been dramatic. To listen to some commentators you would also think it is unprecedented and irreversible. Those claiming that oil will continue to fall from here and remain low for evermore, however, are flying in the face of both history and common sense. The question we should be asking ourselves is not if oil prices will recover, but when they will. … [Read more...]
IRENA pushes for 160 GW energy storage plan
A group of experts is expected to finalise details this week of a road map to install 160 Gigawatts (GW) of battery storage worldwide in 2030, reports Jason Deign of Energy Storage Report. The plan, being developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), would see nearly four times as much battery storage being deployed in the next 15 years as all the solar power installed worldwide to date. … [Read more...]
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